5. Lollipop

Missing Julian (5 of 13)

Jan 25, 2026

0:00

-9:08

(Maria came back to find Julian, among other reasons. Many people are looking for Julian. Every man makes a presence, and their absence leaves a hole. This is the second to last section of Milestone.)

That night, after the soccer and the pizza, Danny parked the police car on Newtown Road, three houses up from the Trotters.

Both pickup trucks were parked in the driveway. The lights inside the house went off around midnight.

Henry chewed on his lip.

“What would you ask them, old man? Did you kill a boy? Did you take his phone? Where is the body?”

“Something like that.”

“How many times have you been in that house?”

“A few.”

“And…”

“Well, Lee-Anne appreciated me.”

“She appreciated you all the way off the island.”

Coffin smiled.

“And Billy was writing “Remember” on butts while she was here. She didn’t stop it.”

“No.”

“Let’s go to the Chicken Box, old man.”

So they did.

When Coffin returned to his house on Main Street in the morning, Pip was alert. He had a smell in his nose. The dog walked up to the door and scratched, then ran to the side of the house, and then back.

Henry left the car and called to the dog.

Danny left the car and unsnapped his holster.

The front door was unlocked, as it almost always was. When Coffin pushed it open, Pip bolted through it. Danny tried to go first, with his weapon out, but Coffin cut him off and walked into the ancient main hall. Zenas cast a cold eye on both of them.

Pip barked in the kitchen, racing back and forth in front of a French door, looking out on two men standing in the backyard. Both had rakes, although one had two hands and one had only one.

Coffin pushed open the door. Pip sprinted for the older man. He let his rake fall, reached into his pocket, and gave the dog a treat. Then, with his left hand, he scratched him.

Pip, who rode in the back of the police car, and who had made promises to protect and serve, surrendered to the invader.

Steven Graves watched the moment unfold. Danny put his weapon away.

“Steven,” Coffin asked. “Is this Julian’s father?”

“Yes.”

The Inspector looked back at his partner. “I think I am safe here, Danny.”

Danny wasn’t sure.

“Pip will protect me.”

The dog was panting happily.

Danny stood. Once again, every moment of his training argued against this.

“Sergeant, I am pretty sure you don’t want to meet this man.” Deniability is the word.

“Okay.”

“If they kill me, you can cremate me and bury me with the tomatoes.”

The former Boston cop shook his head.

“See you tonight.”

Pip stood next to his new best friend. Danny waved and walked away. He closed the door. They waited until they heard the car start.

“You should call me sometime. We could make this yard look nice.” Steven offered.

“Maybe I will,” Coffin agreed, then he turned to the older man with one hand. “How can I help? Surely, time is precious.”

“Yes.”

The one-armed man stood straight and examined the Quaker.

The younger man continued. “Inspector Henry Coffin, this is Quinto Batista, of Brazil.”

Quinto was a smaller man, dressed in flip-flops, dirty jeans, a tank top, and carefully oiled and styled hair. It began swooping over the top of his forehead like a gray breaking wave, then ran out over his neck like wash on a beach. On close inspection, he was not only without his right hand but also several toes.

Coffin shook his left hand, with some difficulty. Quinto smiled and asked him a question in Portuguese.

Steven translated. “He wants to know how your night was?”

“Restful.”

Steven translated, and they both smiled. “It’s nice to hear that police on the night shift are the same the world over.”

“I am glad to have brothers.”

The three of them smiled.

Steven walked over to an old white iron table with four chairs. Coffin had forgotten he owned them. Both old men sat. Steven remained standing, like a waiter. He translated as best he could.

“Do you know where Julian is?” Steven asked.

“No.” Coffin answered.

The other man’s face fell.

“He’s not with Maria. He didn’t leave the island with her. She asked me to look for him.”

Quinto nodded.

“What we know is not good. He met his girlfriend at the windmill three weeks ago.”

Coffin paused so that Steven could translate. Steven used the name ‘Maria.’

“She gave him a cell phone; he gave her a gold coin.”

Quinto scowled.

“Somehow, the phone came into the hands of some boys.”

The old man dropped his head and nodded.

“The boys used it to trap and…attack Maria.”

Quinto spat and darkened. He barked a question.

“Is she all right?” Stephen asked.

“No.”

Quinto spat again.

Coffin continued. “We have not found Julian.”

He paused.

“We haven’t found a body, either.”

Quinto nodded again, then asked a question.

Stephen inhaled and let the air out. “Do you think he died?”

“I don’t know.”

Coffin didn’t say that dead bodies attract animal attention. He also didn’t say that the ocean was wide and deep.

A torrent of words washed from the air. Coffin understood none, but the grief was bitter, glass-edged, and familiar. Coffin rested against the side of the white cast iron table and felt the intimate edges of his old scar.

Steven regarded him oddly, as if Coffin had just landed a 12-foot shark and was watching it snap and twitch on the deck. He was surprised, awed, and a touch scared of the left-handed man.

“He is very upset over this. He wants to know if …you have any suspects.”

“Yes.”

Graves leaned over the left-handed man. Both were talking. The young man shook his head several times, but at the last shake, Coffin heard some quick, hard words. Steven smiled weakly and turned to Coffin.

“I am wondering if there is anything that I could offer you that would speed up the investigation. I am very interested to know who hurt the girl.”

The Inspector looked at the young man.

“No.” Coffin said. “We will find out who did this and we will bring those to justice ourselves.”

“I am in a position to offer some considerable help.” Graves was intensely pale as he spoke the words.

“No,” said Coffin. “I think it is best if I proceed as I always do.”

More whispering.

Graves looked at the Inspector. “Would you excuse us for a second?”

In his own backyard, Coffin didn’t have many places to go. On the other hand, he didn’t speak Portuguese, so they could be plotting his murder. The Inspector and Pip walked to a fading hydrangea in the rear corner of the yard as it caught the early morning light.

Pip lifted his leg and made his mark on the plant.

“Inspector?”

Graves had turned pale. Quinto had a toothy smile.

Steven held a purple lollipop.

“Inspector, Quinto would like to give you a gift.”

“I don’t need one.”

“This one is just a lollipop.”

“I don’t eat lollipops.”

“You shouldn’t eat this one.” Graves said. “But, if there is a time when you need help, for anything at all, the lollipop will get it for you.”

Coffin stared at him.

“It is very rare and it is straight from Brazil. Keep it safe and it will help you someday. Someday.”

Graves handed the lollipop out. The Inspector thought of it, then took it. “Keep it safe.”